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Google's first AI glasses expected next year
Google will compete with Meta with its own line of AI-powered smart glasses.
VSCO lays off 24 staff as its consumer business suffers
In an internal memo seen by TechCrunch, VSCO's CEO Eric Wittman said the company's consumer business had declined more than expected, and some of its new growth initiatives didn't yield the expected results.
Pebble's founder introduces a $75 AI smart ring for recording brief notes with a press of a button
After rebooting the Pebble smartwatch, founder Eric Migicovsky is expanding his company's device lineup with a new smart wearable: an AI-powered smart ring known as Index 01. Named for the finger where the ring is meant to be worn, the new $75 ring is not meant to be a competitor to the always-on, always-listening AI devices, like the AI pendant Friend, but instead offers a way to record quick notes and reminders with a press of a button on the ring's side. AI only comes into play via the open source, speech-to-text, and AI models that run locally on your smartphone, via the open source Pebble mobile app. That is, if the Ring's button is not being pressed, it's not recording. (And this is a press-and-hold gesture, too, which means you can't start the ring's recording and then let go to surreptitiously record a conversation.) You can wear the stainless steel ring while in the shower, washing hands, doing dishes, or in the rain, but you would have to take it off for other water-related activities, like swimming. At launch, it's water-resistant to 1 meter. The ring is also not a fitness tracker or sleep monitor. It doesn't record details about your heart rate or health. And it's not there to be your AI friend. "I'm not trying to build some AI assistant thing," Migicovsky told TechCrunch in an interview. "I build things that solve one main problem, and they solve it really well," he explains. "I think of as external memory for my brain...that's what this is. It's always with you." Plus, the ring has been designed to be highly reliable and privacy-preserving, he says, as all your thoughts are stored on your phone, not in the cloud. There is no subscription. Migicovsky has been wearing the ring for three months now and says he cannot imagine going back to a world where he doesn't always have a memory device with him. "The problem is that, during the day, I get ideas or I remember something, and if I don't write it down that second, I forget it," he says. The ring solves this problem, he adds, without becoming another device you need to charge. "The battery lasts for years," Migicovsky claims. Technically, the ring is said to support roughly 12 to 14 hours of recording. On average, the founder says he uses it 10-20 times per day to record 3-6 second thoughts. At that rate, he'll get about two years of usage. When the ring's battery dies, you can ship it back to the company for recycling. When using Index, you can record up to five minutes of audio, which can be saved to the ring and synced to your phone later. This makes sense for recording briefer, personal thoughts and notes, even when you don't have your phone handy, but it wouldn't work for recording a longer chat, like a presentation, meeting, or in-person interview of some kind. The ring also supports 99+ languages and has a bit of on-device memory, in case you're not in Bluetooth range of your device, where the recording is ultimately saved and transcribed. (The raw audio is retained, too, in case the speech-to-text is garbled due to loud background noise). If you own a Pebble smartwatch or one from another brand, your recorded thought can even appear on the watch's screen so you can verify it's correct. The ring works with Pebble's mobile app, which offers notes and reminders, but can optionally integrate with your phone's calendaring system, too, or other apps, like Notion. And the ring's software is open source, which makes it hackable by the community, the founder points out. Because of its open nature, the ring's button is already programmable. In addition to the press-and-hold gesture, you can program the ring to do other things with a single or double press, like play or pause your music or control the shutter on your phone's camera. You could use it to send a message through the universal chat app Beeper, which Migicovsky also created, or you could add your own voice actions via MCP. A new approach to hardware Migicovsky acknowledges that hardware can be difficult to get right -- as the previous exit of Pebble to Fitbit showed. (Fitbit, too, was later acquired by Google in 2021). "I didn't earn any money during Pebble -- we exited, but it was not a great exit," Migicovsky admits. This year, however, he decided to reboot the Pebble project after Google open sourced the PebbleOS, which opened up the door to new hardware. With his new company, Core Devices, Migicovsky plans to do things differently. Still, the founder doesn't regret his previous choices, he clarifies. "I wouldn't have gone back and changed anything. I loved what we built. I loved what we did. I love the company that we built, but it's not the only way to build a company," he told TechCrunch. " And, speaking as an ex-YC partner, there are -- there's a time and a place for building a venture-backed startup. Some companies are phenomenal when they raise money and build a big team, and I tried that...I think what I'm doing now is trying an alternative path, which is start from profitability," he says. The new company is a small team of five, self-funded, and focused on sustainability. So far, Core Devices has shipped the Pebble 2 Duo smartwatch with a black-and-white display. Its first run sold out, and the company is now preparing to ship the upgraded version, the Pebble Time 2. The newer device, which has seen 25,000 pre-orders, is a stainless steel watch with a larger, color e-ink screen. As for the Index 01, the ring's pre-order offer ends in March 2026. After that, the price increases to $99. It currently comes in silver, polished gold, and matte black and works with iOS and Android devices. Customers can select from eight ring sizes and three colors.
Google's AI try-on app Doppl adds a shoppable discovery feed
The tech giant says the idea behind the new feed is to display recommendations so users can discover and virtually try on items. Nearly everything in the feed is shoppable, with direct links to merchants.
Claude Code is coming to Slack, and that's a bigger deal than it sounds
Anthropic launches Claude Code in Slack, letting developers delegate coding tasks from chat threads. It's part of a shift toward AI-embedded collaboration that could reshape software workflows.
Bethune St vs. Sochaux - Live Score
View the Bethune St vs. Sochaux game played on December 20, 2025. Box score, stats, play-by-play timeline, highlights, odds & more
Pontivy GSI vs. SC Bastia - Live Score
View the Pontivy GSI vs. SC Bastia game played on December 20, 2025. Box score, stats, play-by-play timeline, highlights, odds & more
New 'KnoWay' robotaxis cause chaos in upcoming Grand Theft Auto Online DLC
The inclusion of the Waymo look-a-likes appears to be part of a larger storyline that will encourage players to "stop the development of a mass surveillance network."
AI finds its way into Apple's top apps of the year
Although Apple has continued to avoid naming a dedicated AI app or AI chatbot as its app of the year, AI was showcased among this year's winners.
Meta poaches Apple design exec Alan Dye
Dye led Apple's user interface team for the last decade.
Meta poaches Apple design exec Alan Dye to lead new creative studio in Reality Labs
Dye led Apple's user interface team for the last decade.
Google Photos' 2025 Recap turns to Gemini to find your highlights
The Google Photos Recap will use Gemini's AI to find your memorable moments throughout the year, and adds new metrics, like a 'selfie' count.
Amazon Fire TV's new AI feature lets you jump to scenes by describing them to Alexa+
Amazon says you can describe the scene to Alexa by mentioning details like the actor or character's name, or a memorable quote.
Google tests merging AI Overviews with AI Mode
Google is testing how to make it easier to move from search to an AI chat in a new global test.
Android 16 adds AI notification summaries, new customization options, and more
The rollout of the new Android 16 features, which are first coming to Pixel devices, marks a new chapter in how Android updates work, as the company is shifting from a single yearly update to more frequent releases.
Netflix launches a mobile-friendly version of Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption is officially available for Netflix subscribers on iOS and Android Devices.
YouTube releases its first-ever recap of videos you've watched
YouTube Recap features a set of up to 12 different cards that highlight a user's top channels, interests, the evolution of their viewing habits, and which personality type they fall into based on the videos they loved to watch.
Mistral closes in on Big AI rivals with new open-weight frontier and small models
Mistral unveils its Mistral 3 lineup, including a frontier model and efficient small models designed for offline, customizable enterprise use—aiming to prove small, fine-tuned AI can beat closed-source giants.
Amazon Music’s 2025 Delivered is now here to compete with Spotify Wrapped
Amazon Music's 2025 Delivered introduced new badges for listeners to show off. For example, the “Headliner” badge recognizes fans who fall in the top percentage of an artist’s listeners.
Apple just named a new AI chief with Google and Microsoft expertise, as John Giannandrea steps down
The move is being characterized as a shake-up, but was seemingly inevitable in retrospect.
MKBHD's wallpaper app Panels is shutting down
"We knew it was niche... and ultimately, we weren't able to turn it into the vision I had," Marques Brownlee said.
Trump administration science assault slams major Bay Area economic engine, threatens ‘amazing innovations’
Investors and young scientists are pulling back from biotech, amid broader attacks on science under Trump, industry representatives said.
Trump administration science assault slams major Bay Area economic engine, threatens ‘amazing innovations’
Investors and young scientists are pulling back from biotech, amid broader attacks on science under Trump, industry representatives said.